Letters to the Editor — Sept. 17, 2012

Monday

Sep 17, 2012 at 3:15 AM

Many thanks

To the editor: We would like to thank all those who took part in the Mystery Ride for Brain Aneurysm Foundation on Aug. 25.

The Brain Aneurysm Foundation is the nation's only nonprofit organization solely dedicated to providing critical awareness, education, support and research funding to reduce the incidence of brain aneurysms.

A brain aneurysm is a weak bulge on the wall of an artery in the brain and can catastrophically rupture. One in 15 people, in the United States, will develop a brain aneurysm during their lifetimes. Most will not rupture, but 30,000 people in the USA will suffer a rupture each year. That's one aneurysm rupturing every 18 minutes! 50% of those who experience a rupture will die within 30 days, many instantly, and two thirds of the people who survive the rupture will have lasting disabilities. Through research, we hope to predict who will develop an aneurysm and treat the aneurysm before it ruptures.

We would like to especially thank the Alton American Legion Riders and the Alton American Legion Ladies Auxiliary for generously donating their time, energy and funds to make the day a success.

We would also like to thank the following businesses for their generous donations:

To the editor: The voters of the 1st New Hampshire Congressional District have a serious dilemma. We do not have a candidate worthy of being our representative to Washington.

Of the two, one is so totally incompetent, and in over their head as to be embarrassing.

History has shown this individual tends to toe the party line with little or no individual thinking, contributing little or nothing to the constituents of the 1st District.

The other has a history of saying one thing and voting another primarily favoring the needy rich. They still have not divulged the infusion of roughly a quarter of million dollars into their campaign two years ago. Where did that money come from? Is there some particular reason that person is exempt from disclosing the source of campaign funds.

Honesty, integrity, and representing the people of New Hampshire are foremost in the qualifications for our representative, and neither seems to be worthy to speak for the voters of the 1st New Hampshire Congressional District.

Arthur BradburyLee

Where to stand

To the editor: Who will Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe stand with? Are they going to stand with people from Maine or are they going to align themselves with Representative Paul Ryan and rest of the extreme right wing leadership of House Republicans who are looking to cut off 300,000 kids from free school lunches at a time when one in five children lives in poverty. And all to give more money to the Pentagon's already bloated budget.

We need Senators Collins and Snowe to speak up against the Representative Ryan and his colleague's heartless budget approach that reneges on last summer's debt ceiling deal to cut military spending. The debt ceiling deal was a compromise, because it mandated equal cuts to military spending and social programs. If these cuts are rolled back under the Ryan and House Republicans' plan to block the required Pentagon spending, then all the required deficit reduction will come on the backs of children, the working class and the poor.

America already has the world's biggest economy and the most advanced and powerful military. No other country — including China — comes close. Reigning in the Pentagon budget won't change that. Keep in mind our military and military spending played a significant role in increasing the national debt — over the last decade. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to record deficits. The U.S. defense budget is six times that of China's and equal to that of more than the next 17 highest spending countries combined. We cannot afford Senators Collins and Snowe to follow the extreme right wing GOP leadership in Congress and play partisan games with our budget. We hope they will reject the Ryan approach to fatten up the Pentagon spending at the expense of our kids, seniors and so many others who could least afford it.

Paul TreacyKittery Point, Maine

No mention

To the editor: Governor Romney did not mention Afghanistan once during his presidential nomination acceptance speech. Twenty-six American advisers have been killed in thirty-four attacks by Afghan counterparts this year, twelve alone this August. I slept with a loaded 9 mm under my pillow as an Iraqi infantry battalion combat adviser and Iraqi counterparts only ever killed six American advisers.

Bring home our conventional troops now. If we invaded Afghanistan to kill Osama bin Laden, President Obama accomplished that. If we invaded to defeat the Taliban, President Bush failed by diverting our military to invade Iraq. American advisers preparing government backed militias to secure the peace once we leave will not solve Afghanistan's centralized government problem and special operation forces coupled with drones should prevent another al Qaeda attack from Afghan soil.

Governor Romney not mentioning Afghanistan reflects the larger problems created by having a large standing military and no wartime draft. War no longer affects our daily lives, politicians eagerly use military force, and too much is asked of those serving. 187 active-duty and reserve soldiers committed suicide so far this year, with July setting the single-month record high of thirty-eight such suicides. These numbers do not even reflect suicides by veterans that left the service. Our standing military should be drastically reduced in size so conventional ground force deployments would require a draft of all able men and woman between eighteen and twenty-five with exemptions only for single custodial parents. Maybe then Afghanistan would merit mention by the Republican standard-bearer.

Josh DentonPortsmouth

Many thanks

To the editor: We wish to extend our heartfelt appreciation to all who assisted with our recent cleanups at the Isles of Shoals. Since June, we've removed 4,040 pounds of marine debris from the Isles at cleanups on Appledore, Star, White and Seavey Islands with help of volunteers and personnel from Blue Ocean Society and NH Sea Grant.

While the staff at Shoals Marine Lab, Star Island Corporation, and the Tern Restoration Project on White Island work hard to minimize waste and conserve resources, the islands are victim to debris that washes ashore and sometimes stays out there for years. Our findings on the islands included many plastic water bottles, pieces of Styrofoam and plastic, balloons, balls of crushed-up lobster traps and rope (that were removed with permission from NH Fish and Game and Maine Marine Patrol), and less-expected items like shoes, a toothbrush, lip balm and a diaper.

Thank you to our funders NOAA Marine Debris Program and Fishing for Energy Partnership, and project partners Lee Schatvet, Captain, F/V Yesterday's Storm, NH Fish and Game and NH Marine Patrol, NH Port Authority, Maine Marine Patrol, Dan Hayward and his team from the Tern Restoration Project, the Shoals Marine Lab, Star Island Corporation and volunteers from the LOAS I Conference, Sue Reynolds, founder of the Lighthouse Kids and owner of the Uncle Oscar, Pete Reynolds, Owner, Granite State Whale Watch, the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company and The Prospect Mountain High School Outing Club-Alumni. Our goals with these marine debris surveys and cleanups are to remove accumulations of marine debris and to revisit in subsequent years for re-assessment. We look forward to future cleanups on Appledore and Smuttynose Island this month.

To the editor: Former Rockingham County Correctional Officer Joe Pantelakos was injured on June 9, 1998. He was attacked by an inmate. Joe was severely injured and to this day still, suffers from those injuries emotionally and physically. Joe worked for the county for ten years. His disability pension is not even enough to pay his monthly bills.

Joe and his wife Pam were told by County Commissioner Kate Pratt "that the county would provide whatever Joe needed." Former Human Resources Director Roy Morissette said "the County would pay for his medical insurance for the rest of his life."

The county changed his health plan, making him pay for some of it. It has gone up, now Joe cannot afford to pay for it. So now he has no health insurance.

This outrageous! He was hurt on the job! Not one of the County Commissioners has the decency to talk to Joe and Pam to resolve this. This should be made an election issue.

If the County Commissioners do not care about their employees, they should not have a County paid job! This problem can be resolved. Let Joe have his County paid medical insurance back.

Paul HorvathSomersworth

Enlightened

To the editor: Of all the divisive views and proposals espoused at the Republican National Convention last week, perhaps the most surprising was the attack on women's rights. For two generations now, American women have enjoyed a greater measure of equality in education, politics, business, and other spheres. Women's advancement has benefitted men, too, as well as children. In fact, all of society benefits when everyone can contribute to his or her fullest potential.

The Republican platform, supported by both Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan, casts a chilling shadow over our country. Romney and Ryan do not favor paycheck fairness, promised to take away access to health care for millions of women, and would put their health care decisions in the hands of their employers.

We women — and the men who respect us and value our equal participation — will not accept this backward vision of America. President Obama knows that our country has the best chance of thriving if everyone has an equal chance at success. He supports equal pay for equal work; family-friendly economic policies such as tax cuts for low-and middle-incomes; health care for children; and access to college. In addition, the President stands by women's constitutional right to make their own health care decisions, including that of family planning and reproductive health. Enlightened attitudes toward women are a mark of an advanced, civilized society. We won't turn back the clock on women.

Julia RodriguezDurham

A good vote

To the editor: Congratulations to the city of Rochester and a big pat on the back to the city councilors who voted against the GSF initiative. To quote TJ Jean in a recent Fosters piece: " It was interesting to me the amount of out-of-town participation in this meeting."

Well TJ, I have been a resident for 8 years and was pretty proud of the turnout for last nights meeting! Its unfortunate that people don't show up for every meeting to keep you councilors in check!

One thing that stood out to me was the fact that Councilor Varney despite admitting that he didn't know much about it, voted in favor of it! No big surprise but still something for Ward 1 residents to take note of, also of note was the look of disgust on his face after we cheered loudly in victory, its clear what side some members of the council are on and it isn't ours!

We need to take back our community.

Steve T. PlanteRochester

Editor's note: Letters written by Steve T. Plante of Rochester are separate and distinct from those by another letter writer who signs his letters Steve and Kimberly Plante, also of Rochester.

No specifics

To the editor: Fifteen percent of the cost of a $3.85 gallon of gas comes from Wall Street speculation, which should be checked by the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission, one of the agencies now understaffed and underfunded while the Republican-led Congress wants to help out their big business donors. "Wall Street titans like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Barclays have driven up prices by speculation on not just oil, but food as well. Thanks to commodity index trading, which lets investment firms bet on several commodities at once, everything can be speculated upon in a package deal. Remember the summer of 2008 when gas was almost $5 a gallon?" (Carl Gibson, US Uncut)

Remember that our aloof, rarely-home, former Sen. Gregg (R) now is on the payroll of Goldman Sachs? (Since the required 6 months hiatus after he retired from the U.S. Senate.)

Climate change, that neither presidential campaign ever mentions, will directly hit families in the wallet and on the dinner table because of our summer droughts of recent years. Yes, "our." Let's own those droughts. Our Midwest is out of sight from the Northeast, but cannot be out of mind. "But a big factor that's also driving up food prices is speculation — while Barclays made $800 million betting on high food prices, the cost of food has risen in the UK by a whopping 37.9% in the past year." (Carl Gibson, US Uncut)

Are both candidates Obama and Romney going to make it through public scrutiny without getting specific on climate change, Wall Street commodity index trading, and the costs of war /our bloated military budget? Neither one gets my full attention, minus these concerns of mine if they are not their concerns.

Lynn Rudmin Chong,Sanbornton

Paul Ryan brings baggage

To the editor: While all Conservative Republicans applaud Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney on his selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate, it does seem that he is going to satisfy the real conservative base with this selection. He has also tapped an eloquent speaker on America's free enterprise system and why everybody is still flocking over to America.

However, the baggage that he brings with him is that after Bush's election for a second term, he went on to stump for three months, trying to privatize or semi-privatize Social Security, even discussing possibly putting it into the stock market — which is completely ridiculous. Guess who was the main operator and language writer for George Bush? It was none other than Paul Ryan, who wrote up almost everything.

Paul Ryan has switched immediately now to Medicare and how that is going to cripple the country. He has to back off from the stance about fixing Social Security. If he doesn't back off and say things are different now and Social Security is well funded and doesn't need fixing, it will be detrimental to Romney's election.

I don't think Romney is a Tea Party member, and I think he will make his own decisions. But if Romney and Ryan are elected — which I think they will be because of the recession, high gas prices and high unemployment rate — we have to watch to see whether Romney controls the party or it controls him.

If they go to work to try to defund Social Security, they are going to have a really tough time. I don't think they are going to bring up Social Security until after the election; however, the Democrats will bring up the fact that Paul Ryan wrote all the legislation that George Bush used to try to defund Social Security.

What they are going to do is take the current payroll discount of 2 percent — which has defunded Social Security for the last two years — and they will continue it. What the Conservative Republicans will be doing, because employers have to match employees' Social Security deductions, is try to take the 6.2 percent that the employers are paying now and bring it down to 4.2 percent. This will take a total of 4 percent directly from the Social Security fund. They are going to say this will make America more competitive in a worldwide market by decreasing the payroll tax paid by the employers, which is a falsehood.

I hope people remember that Paul Ryan was in there for eight years with George Bush under Carl Rove's instructions of "Don't tax the people" and "Deficits don't matter." Another part of the baggage Paul Ryan brings is they didn't increase taxes in the eight years of George Bush's presidency, but he gave us a $6 trillion deficit.

So that's his baggage. I hope that Romney lets them know who is in charge. We will see who is going to be running the show after the election, whether it will be Romney or the Republican Party.

John RigazioRetired businessmanRochester

About Womenaid

To the editor: I am writing to recognize and support Womenaid of Greater Portsmouth and other chapters statewide who for years have gone about their business quietly while helping hundreds of people in need of short-term help with nowhere else to turn.

As a community mental health center, Seacoast Mental Health Center (SMHC) has seen the major impact their grassroots approach has made on the lives of people in our community.

Whether it is helping a single mother continue to be able to get to and from work with a car repair, or helping a father to return to work through needed resources, Womenaid provides immediate, confidential, short-term financial assistance to individuals and families when a small amount of money can make a significant difference.

In fact, one staff member said to me the other day in an email, '"Womenaid is an invaluable resource for so many of my clients ¿ Honestly, I could not have been anywhere near as effective without their help."'

So for anyone who has not heard of Womenaid of Greater Portsmouth or any of the other chapters around the state, I invite you to learn more at www.womenaidportsmouth.org. They really do change lives.

Dave SmithSMHC Employment Coordinator Portsmouth

In response

To the editor: I am responding to a recent letter by Sandy Keans.

I don't believe I have ever read so many lame excuses for having Obama speak here in Rochester. You are correct when you say, "there is no value for the money spent." Why didn't you all consider giving that money to our schools for supplies. (Our kids are now asked to bring in hand cleaning liquid soap and Kleenex.)

There was no "win- win" for this town. Not only did you tie up the commons and the streets all around it, did anyone take into consideration that on just the other side of town stands Poulin's Garage. Barack and his "thugs" did everything in their power to tear that business apart. Folks lost their jobs there and what used to be a GM garage is now a Chrysler garage due to the courage it takes to press on despite dire circumstances for that owner. (Other businesses were also gone.)

Please, do not tell us that this "visit" was allowed in order to showcase Rochester. Obama wanted to come here, and to Durham, Windham and Portsmouth because he knows where all the Democrat "pockets" are in New Hampshire and he is campaigning in those.

Gee, you had to mention CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC and ABC. What about FOX? For many of us that is the only channel where we can listen to both sides of the true news. And what does Safron locating here have to do with this event?

Do you really want to describe our Main Street as having pizazz? We have a tattoo parlor, a pool room, a reptile shop, three smoke shops and how many bars on Main Street? You would have to go back many years to witness the kind of Main Street that we were all proud of. (You remember that don't you!?) Sure, there is plenty of activity, but not the kind we would like.

Don't call this event advertising for Rochester. That kind of statement is just not credible. You all thought this would be a feather in your cap to have the "prez" speak here. Truth be known, there were more "out-of-towners" present at this affair that "locals."

Well, he came, he saw, but he didn't conquer many of us. Hope you are satisfied but do try to spend our money more wisely.